Ordinary Gweilo

Here’s a piece of brilliant timing. On Thursday I got a shiny new 3 year visa to stay in Hong Kong, and then the following day they granted me right of abode, and stuck another label in my passport (right next to the first one). My fault really – I should have applied a bit earlier, and then it would have all been sorted out before my existing visa ran out. What made me laugh was that having been given 1 or 2 year visas previously they should suddenly decide to give me 3 years when I didn’t need it.

I have to say that my dealings with the Immigration Department have been fairly painless. When I first came to Hong Kong, British citizens were able to turn up at the airport and get a twelve month visa without any restrictions. Which was nice. When that concession ended, I managed to get an employment visa without too much trouble, though it did involve some tedious waits in Immigration Towers. I think the first time I turned up there in the afternoon, picked up a ticket and came back about an hour later, only to discover that there were still over one hundred people ahead of me waiting to be seen. I eventually decided that the best strategy was to arrive there when they opened at 8.30, and I managed to get tag number two or three and was out of there not long after 9.00.

I can’t compare this with any other country, but I have heard bad things about the system in the UK. In fact, I once worked very close to one of the offices of the UK Immigration Service (or whatever it’s called), and I used to feel very sorry for the people queuing up (outside) first thing in the morning in the hope of being allowed to stay in the country. I also once had a temporary job in another government department that dealt with appeals from people who wanted to stay in the country, and it was clear from that experience that the civil servants in the Immigration & Nationality Directorate had a tough time. A friend of mine with an American wife had to go there to sort out the formalities so that she was allowed to stay, and I know he was dreading it.

Back to Hong Kong, and these days most of the forms are on their website so that you can download them. However, not all of them. The form you need to apply for Right of Abode is viewable on the website but you cannot download it. I called them to check how to get the form, and after pressing a whole string of numbers before being able to speak to anyone I was greeted with a message saying that I was being held in a queue and might have to wait some time. A few seconds of silence and then I was through, and the guy was very helpful – he offered to send me the forms by post (which I accepted, of course). Needless to say, they ask you a hundred and one things and want evidence of every job and everywhere you have lived, but this was all done by post and I wasn’t asked to attend for an interview.

One small frustration was that when I was applying to extend my stay they came up with two forms that needed to be signed, but which are not mentioned anywhere on their website and certainly aren’t available for download. The result was that I put in my application on the very day that my old visa expired, though thankfully this didn’t seem to cause any problems.

Now (apart from going to pick up my new Identity Card) I think my dealings with the Immigration Department are at an end.